There was no doubt this morning that it was cold enough to harvest frozen grapes for ice wine.

In the darkness of a polar vortex, the temperature plunged as low as -17C throughout most of the Okanagan, much more frigid than the -8C minimum required.

"Wow, this is a cold snap," said Wine Growers British Columbia (formerly the BC Wine Institute) communications director Laura Kittmer.

"Picking really started in earnest in the early morning hours and will continue all day in the sun, which is really nice, because the daytime temperature won't go above -10C."

In fact, conditions, both overnight and daytime for the next three days will be cold enough ice wine grape harvest.

The first ice wine grape harvest of the season was weeks ago on Dec. 23 when two tonnes of frozen grapes were picked in vineyards in a frost pocket in the Garnet Valley outside of Summerland.

Then two more tonnes were harvested Jan. 24 in West Kelowna and Keremeos.

That means the vast majority of the 300 tonnes of frozen grapes expected to be harvested in the Okanagan this season will come in over the next five days.

Pickers are put on standby when the forecast calls for a deep freeze and then bundle up and get to work, clippers in gloved hand, usually in the dark of night, to bring in the precious commodity. 

While ice wine production was pioneered in Germany, Canada has become the world leader.

The Great White North is a unique place in the world where summers are warm enough to produce grapes for wine, yet also cold enough in the winter to freeze some of those grapes.

While Canada produces the most ice wine, it is still a small-production niche product that is exported more to Asia than it is consumed at home.

Grapes left to freeze dry out and the water and sugars in the fruit concentrates so that when it's picked at at least -8C and pressed, the juice is incredibly sweet.

The resulting ice wine has residual sugar levels of around 220 grams per litre, 100 times more than the 2.2 grams per litre in a dry white wine.

The key with well-made ice wine is that it maintains lively acidity to offset the sugar, so while the nectar is undoubtedly sweet, the drink is delicious, luscious and balanced.

It can be drunk on its own as an aperitif or dessert or paired with strong cheese, spicy, salty or rich foods or fruit-or-chocolate-based desserts.

Relying on fickle Mother Nature, limited quantities and high cost of production means ice wine is expensive by the time it gets to market.

Generally, ice wine comes in smaller 375ml bottles and can cost anywhere from $50 to $100.

For example, the 2017 Stag's Hollow Vidal Ice Wine is $55 and has heady aromas and flavours of peach, apricot, candied pineapple, honey and caramel.

Yum!